Blank for a moccasin shoe



em 6, 1966 c s ET AL 3,2$9,33@

BLANK FOR A MOCCASIN SHOE Filed March 5, 1964 Eigfi INVENTORSHERBERTHTRACHSEL AND BY CHARLES R KELLY,

United States Patent 3,289,330 BLANK FOR A MOCCASIN SHOE Herbert H.Trachsel, Cincinnati, and Charles P. Kelly, Norwood, Ohio, assignors toThe United States Shoe Corporation, Cincinnati, Ohio, a corporation ofOhio Filed Mar. 5, 1964, Ser. No. 349,648 3 Claims. (Cl. 36-48) Thisinvention relates to a moccasin shoe and. while .the invention is not solimited, it has been illustrated and will be discussed primarily forinfants shoes.

In the manufacture of infants moccasin type shoes, it has become apractice in recent years to provide a blank which can be sewn to providethe upper and toe portions and the bottom of the shoe. Thus, a portionof the toe area and portions of the sides of the upper are brought downto form the bottom and two or more seams are then sewn to make a closedshoe with a bottom which can then be placed on the last in a moistened.condition for further operations.

The stitching operation to make the bottom of the shoe has in the pastproduced ridges or irregularities which are considered harmful to theinfants who wear the shoes.

It is, therefore, the principal object of the present invention toprovide a moccasin type shoe wherein the bottom exhibits a single seamso disposed that it will not cause irritations to the foot of the infantor other person wearing the shoe.

It is another object to simplify the sewing operation by providing for asingle seam which does not have to be merged with or overlapped withanother seam.

These and other objects of the invention which will be pointed out inmore detail hereinafter are accomplished by that certain constructionand arrangement of parts of which the following describes an exemplaryembodiment.

Reference is made to the drawing forming a part hereof and in which:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a blank from which the basic structure of theshoe including the upper, toe and bottom are constituted.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of a blank for the so-called plug which includesthe tongue.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the blank for the heel stay.

FIG. 4 is a plan bottom view of the upper with the bottom formingportions sewn together.

FIG. 5 is a view similar to FIG. 1 of another embodiment of theinvention; and

FIG. 6 is a view similar to FIG. 5 showing the bottom produced. by theblank of FIG. 5.

Briefly, in the practice of the invention, the upper is formed from apeculiarly shaped blank which at its center has a toe-wall-formingportion and side portions. Along one edge of the toe-wall-formingportion and the side wall portions are provided portions which willultimately form the bottom of the upper. The bottom forming portion ofone side portion merges smoothly in a reverse curve into the bottomforming portion of the toe-wall-forming portion and the bottom formingportion of the other side portion is configured in the shape of aquestion mark joining with the bottom forming portion of thetoe-wall-portion in an acute angle. When this upper is sewn together, aswill be described hereinafter, the bottom of the upper will exhibit asingle seam in the shape of a question mark. In the preferred.embodiment illustrated in FIGS 1 to 4 inclusive, the hooked portion ofthe question mark commences in the big toe area and curves toward theoutside of the shoe generally in conformity with the toe portion of theshoe and then curves inwardly toward the centerline of the shoe in theregion of the instep and then curves reversely to follow substantiallythe centerline of the shoe to the heel.

3,289,330 Patented Dec. 6, 1966 Referring now in greater detail to thedrawing, FIG. 1 illustrates the preferred embodiment of a blank for theupper. This blank is provided with the centerline toewall-formingportion 10 and the side portions 11 and 12. The bottom of the portion 10in FIG. 1 will be turned under to form a part of the bottom of the shoeas will the bottom portion of the side portions 11 and 12. It will beobserved that the bottom of the toe-wall portion 13 merges in a smoothgradual reverse curve into the bottom forming portion 14 of the portion11. The bottom forming portion of the side portion 12 is provided with aquestion mark shaped curve joining the portion 13 at the point 15 at anacute angle with a hook portion of the'question mark 16 curving awayfrom the point 15 and then having a reverse curve at 17.

The plug of FIG. 2 and the heel stay of FIG. 3 are secured in the usualmanner and do not form a part of the present invention.

It will be observed. that from the point 15 along the "edges 13 and 14are a series of marks or nicks 18 and in the question mark curve fromthe point 15 through 16 and 17 are a series of marks or nicks 19. Thesemarks are simply guides for use in sewingthe seam to insure a propershaping of the shoe.

In assembling the shoe, the stitching begins at the point 15 and theedges 13-14 are sewn by means of a zig zag stitch to the edges 16, 17with the respective notches 18 and 19 in registry. The operationcontinues all the way to the end of the curves 14 and 17 which terminateat the heel of the shoe.

By considering FIG. 4, it will be observed that commencing at the point15 the seam gives the appearance of a reversed question mark. The point15 occurs in the big toe area of the foot and through the curve 13approximates the configuration of the shoe toe. Thence the seam occurstoward the outside of the shoe and then back in a reverse curve towardthe instep where it merges into a straight line substantially on thecenterline of the shoe. The broken line area in FIG. 4 and indicated at20 indicates that these portions of the meeting edges to be joined bystitching may be skived in order to produce a smoother bottom for theshoe. The particular blank shown in FIG. 1 will produce a shoe for theright foot and if the blank is turned upside down before forming andsewing, it will produce a left shoe.

While a reversal of the position of the seam is considered lessdesirable, nevertheless, the question mark may be reversed-as shown inFIG. 6. Because of the asymmetrical outline of the shoe bottom if it isdesired to have the seam curve toward the inside of the shoe rather thantoward the outside, the blank must have a somewhat different shapebecause there is less material in the bottom surface in the regionindicated in FIG. 6 at 21, so that the seam must be brought toward thecenter of the shoe more rapidly. Thus, in FIG. 5 there is shown a blankby means of which a shoe for the right foot may be produced, having aseam such as shown in FIG. 6. Again if this blank is reversed, a leftfoot will be formed in which the seam curves around the inside of theshoe. Corresponding parts in FIGS. 1 and 5 and in FIGS 4 and 6 have beengiven corresponding reference numerals with the postscript a.

It will be understood that the moccasin type shoe is finished. in theusual manner or in any desired conventional manner forming no part ofthe present invention. It will also be understood that modifications maybe made without departing from the spirit of the invention.

The invention having now been fully described, what is claimed is:

1. A blank for a moccasin shoe upper comprising a single elongated stripof fiat material, having in a rectiportions extending outward fro msaid--toe-wall-formingportion in a substantially straight line, saidtoe-wallforming portion having a forward. edge, said side portionshaving bottom forming portions extending therefrom to the same side ofsaid strip as said forward edge, a first one of said bottom formingportions having a front edge joining said forward edge at an obtuseangle and being curved away from said forwardedge in a smooth and.gradual reverse curve, a second one of said bottom forming portionshaving a front edge joining said forward edge at an acute angle andcurving away from said forward edge in the shape of a question mark,said forward edge and said bottom forming portions all being disposedalong the same edge of said elongate strip, said strip being adapted tobe bent to the configuration of a shoe upper, and said forward edge andsaid bottom forming portions being adapted to be bent under, and thesecond one of said bottom forming portions being adapted to be joined tosaid forward edge and to the said first bottom forming portions by asingle continuous seam having the general appearance of a question mark.

2. A blank according to claim 1 wherein the seam, when formed by theseam forming portions, commences in the big toe region and curvesgenerally in conformity with the-curve of the toe-portion of-the-shoetoward the outside of the shoe, thence inwardly toward the centerline ofthe shoe and curve reversely, and finally extend 5 along substantiallythe shoe centerline to the heel.

3. A blank according to claim 1 wherein the seam, when formed by theseam forming portions, commences in the little toe region and curvesgenerally in conformity with the curve of the toe portion of the shoetoward the inside of the shoe, thence inwardly toward the centerline ofthe shoe and curving reversely and finally extending along substantiallythe shoe centerline to the heel.

References Cited by the Examiner 15 UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,521,33812/1924 Swanson 36-11 X 2,859,543 11/1958 Potvin 36-11 FOREIGN PATENTS9/ 193 5 Germany.

459,678 9/1950 Italy.

PATRICK D. LAWSON, Primary Examiner.

1. A BLANK FOR A MOCCASIN SHOE UPPER COMPRISING A SINGLE ELONGATED STRIPOF FLAT MATERIAL, HAVING IN A RECTILINEAR ROW A CENTRAL TOE-WALL-FORMINGPORTION, AND SIDE PORTIONS EXTENDING OUTWARD FROM SAID TOE-WALL-FORMINGPORTION IN A SUBSTANTIALLY STRAIGHT LINE, SAID TWO-WALLFORMING PORTIONHAVING A FORWARD EDGE, SAID SIDE PORTIONS HAVING BOTTOM FORMING PORTIONSEXTENDING THEREFROM TO THE SAME SIDE OF SAID STRIP AS SAID FORWARD EDGE,A FIRST ONE OF SAID BOTTOM FORMING PORTIONS HAVING A FRONT EDGE JOININGSAID FORWARD EDGE AT AN OBTUSE ANGLE AND BEING CURVED AWAY FROM SAIDFORWARD EDGE IN A SMOOTH AND GRADUAL REVERSE CURVE, A SECOND ONE OF SAIDBOTTOM FORMING PORTIONS HAVING A FRONT EDGE JOINING SAID FORWARD EDGE ATAN ACUTE ANGLE AND CURVING AWAY FROM SAID FORWARD EDGE IN THE SHAPE OF A"QUESTION MARK," SAID FORWARD EDGE AND SAID BOTTOM FORMING PORTIONS ALLBEING DISPOSED ALONG THE SAME EDGE OF SAID ELONGATE STRIP, SAID STRIPBEING ADAPTED TO BE BENT TO THE CONFIGURATION OF A SHOE UPPER, AND SAIDFORWARD EDGE AND SAID BOTTOM FORMING PORTIONS BEING ADAPTED TO BE BENTUNDER, AND THE SECOND ONE OF SAID BOTTOM FORMING PORTIONS BEING ADAPTEDTO BE JOINED TO SAID FORWARD EDGE AND TO THE SAID FIRST BOTTOM FORMINGPORTIONS BY A SINGLE CONTINUOUS SEAM HAVING THE GENERAL APPEARANCE OF A"QUESTION MARK."